Clint Eastwood

Reference

"Clinton 'Clint' Eastwood, Jr. (born 31 May 1930) is an American actor, film director, producer and composer. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide (1959–1966). He rose to fame for playing the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy of spaghetti westerns during the 1960s, and as Harry Callahan in the five Dirty Harry films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These roles, among others, have made him an enduring cultural icon of masculinity. ..."

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Born

Biography

Clint Eastwood.net, by Richard Schickel
In six parts: Early Years, Westerns, Cops, Man of Action, Backroads & Barrooms, and Behind the Camera

"In the two most aspiring of the films he has directed, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven, he plays a man broken in spirit who finds redemption through altruistic actions reluctantly undertaken (and in the latter, more ambiguously stated). ... All of that aside, [Dirty] Harry's undiminishable appeal lay not in his actions, or even in his 'philosophy.' It was a matter of character. He was the ultimate blue-collar guy, stuck in a tough, underpaid, generally unrewarding job, harassed by fancy-talking, over-privileged bosses."

Web Pages

"Over the years, Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood has uttered many memorable lines in many memorable movies. 'Go ahead, make my day,' in Sudden Impact. 'You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?' in Dirty Harry. 'Girlie, tough ain't enough,' in Million Dollar Baby. But the most revealing line Eastwood ever uttered may have been to USA Today (January 25, 2004), when he said, 'I like the libertarian view, which is to leave everyone alone.' The quote confirmed that Eastwood is not just one of Hollywood's most honored and longest-lasting stars, but perhaps America's highest-profile libertarian."

Filmography

Quotes

"Abuse of power isn't limited to the bad guys of other nations, either. It happens in our country if we're not vigilant. At Waco, was there really an urgency to get those people out of the compound at that particular time?...At Ruby Ridge, there was one guy in a cabin on top of the mountain. Was it necessary for federal agents to go up there, shoot a 14-year-old in the back and shoot a woman with a child in her arms? What kind of mentality does that?"

"Director Sergio Leone had approached Bronson to play what became Eastwood's breakthrough role in A Fistful of Dollars (1964); a few years later, he gave Bronson a part in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) that by some accounts was written for Eastwood. ... As Paul Kersey and Harry Callahan, the vigilante hero of Death Wish and the rogue cop of Dirty Harry, Bronson and Eastwood channeled the rage of right-wing populists, drew yet more rage from liberal critics, and were affiliated forevermore in the pop-culture pantheon."

Give 'Em Hell, Harry!, by Myles Kantor, 23 Sep 2000
Comments on civil suit against Eastwood for allegedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act at his hotel in Carmel, California

"No, Mr. Eastwood didn't aggress against Mrs. zum Brunnen; Mr. Eastwood committed the sin of proprietary prerogative. Yes, he had the audacity to set rates as he saw fit. ... To his credit, Eastwood has refused to settle the case. 'In my opinion, you settle when you're wrong,' he commented."

"The laconic Eastwood answered, 'Libertarian' -- and then went on to explain the philosophy in simple terms: 'Everyone leaves everyone else alone.' He also took a swipe at the Republicans and Democrats, noting that neither of those political parties 'seems to have the ability to embrace that sort of thing."